2 min read

My apologies to Shakespeare, but in the tendering world, the most critical question to answer is whether or not your organisation should proceed with a bid.

I like to strategise and win (Machiavelli is more my style) and the decision to proceed or not proceed with a tender, and how this decision is made, needs to be purely strategic.

Preparing a tender response requires significant investment and resources. Chasing work that doesn’t align with your organisational strategy and capability will result in wasted time and money, and send your win rate down the drain.  

To save yourself the pain, and an extra long meeting with the Board, when determining the suitability of a tender, keep these four keys areas in mind:

Alignment: The extent to which the opportunity aligns with, and contributes to, the strategic goals of the business (growth / direction / financial).

Capability and capacity: The extent to which the opportunity reflects:

• An existing relationship with client

• Knowledge and understanding of client / project

• Sound to significant insight into client need

• Ability to meet minimum requirements

• Track record / past experience / incumbency

• Available key personnel

• Agreements in place for teaming / partnerships

Competitiveness: The extent to which you can compete and differentiate yourself in terms of:

• Client relationship

• Scale

• Complexity

• Footprint

• Innovation

• Track record

• Key personnel

• Price

Resourcing: The extent to which you can support a successful tender in the timeframe. Are your key personnel available during the tender period? Is there budget available to support the costs of preparing the tender submission? What will be the impact of completing the tender on your current portfolio commitments?

Ideally, assessing the suitability of a tender is done well in advance. If you have an established tender pipeline, even before the tender drops, you can start to consider the four areas above and document any thoughts as you go. If the time frame for assessment is only short, you should scrutinise the potential opportunity even more precisely.

Happy bidding!